The observatory sits on top of one of the few remaining parts of the city walls. So, a trip here is also a rare chance to see those too. There are some small, but very nice gardens to walk around that house an interesting collection of planetary position fixing gear, all of which is ornately covered in the usual dragons. The guy to the left is the one who was responsible for all of this physics stuff and there are a couple of statues to him. At the top of the watch tower are some bigger pieces of kit which look very impressive but I have no idea what they do/did. One of the highlights is a water clock that uses uses a bunny to help measure the time but, unfortunately, the pictures of this didn't come out very well as it was inside and the light was too low. In the end we decided that it was more of a stopwatch than a clock: still it was querky. Three adults, two children all for the bargain price of 65Y (GBP6.50) which I thought was pretty good value. One of Beijing's lesser known sights but very interesting none-the-less and well worth a look see.
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When went went to Bangkok one of the things I really wanted to see was the reclining Buddha at Wat Po. It is, apparently, the largest reclining Buddha in the world.
Both then and this time I was amazed at how quiet Wat Po was. I am not saying we were the only ones there but, certainly compared to the Grand Palace we were. This time we took longer to look round the temple itself and very nice it was too. One of my favourite ways of travelling around cities in Asia is by tuk-tuk. It's just a more fun than by taxi. It is also often quicker too as they can weave in and out of the traffic. This was a good holiday for them. Plenty in Sri Lanka, one at our beck and call in Cambodia and of course
I know I will pay about double what a local would but, really, when you think about it, they are still as cheap as chips. Here are some pics from 'tuk-tuk cam' in Bangkok The final leg of our holiday was a brief stopover in Bangkok. Didn't really plan it too well. I (we) should have either gone for a shorter time, which would have been overnight and stayed at the airport and enjoyed the hotel there or longer so we could see a bit more. Longer in Cambodia would have been better or a week in Burma as we'd originally planned but still...
The Misses and I are never quite sure about Bangkok. She doesn't particularly like it, I'm not sure. It certainly is a big noisy and dirty city, but it is also good fun and there is lots to see and I love the food. The biggest disappointment was we managed to avoid the weekend and so didn't go to Chat-a-chat (spelling???) market. Our fourth temple was about an hour out of Siem Reap by tuk-tuk: Banteay Srei. BTW, our hotel included in the deal a tuk-tuk for our use all day every day. No need for haggling or any of that nonsense, just tell him how long you intend to be and where to pick you up from and off you go. Luverly-jubbly!
We decided to learn from the first day and get up and go by 7:30. This time with no tickets to buy and the little earlier start we were ahead of the crowds. What a difference it made. It felt like we had the place to ourselves a few people around us at the start but all the small groups seemed to drift apart and so we all found our own bit of peace.
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AuthorsWe are teachers and have worked in various schools in Europe & Asia. This is really a chronicle of out travels over the years. It is meant for us to look back on, reflect and remember where we've been, what we've done and all our little adventures. If you like it too, then fab! If you don't, do you think we care? Archives
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